2024

Wooden shelves, prints on aluminium and bronze model.
162 x 65 x 58 cm

Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland
Military fortress / concentration camp / artist residence

At the end of the Finnish civil war in 1918, the victorious White Army and German troops were holding approximately 80,000 “red” prisoners; after summary executions and the release of women and children, 76,000 remained. All were interned in concentration camps; between 11,000 and 13,500 died of hunger and cold. The dead were buried in mass graves next to the camps. One of the camps that was set up – using former military barracks – was the prison camp on the island of Suomenlinna, opposite Helsinki. From 14 April 1918 to 14 March 1919, a total of 8,000 prisoners, members of the Red Guard and sympathisers of left-wing organisations, were interned in the camp. About ten per cent of the prisoners died of starvation and disease.

Today, the island of Suomenlinna is a major tourist destination. One of the main houses used as a concentration camp is an artist’s residence.